Scallop, Mexican Bay

Mexican Bay Scallops are distributed from Baja California, Mexico to Northern Peru, including both sides of the Baja California Peninsula. They grow quickly, reach sexual maturity around 6 months of age and produce many eggs.

After heavy fishing pressure that caused numbers to drop considerably, Mexican Bay Scallops are thought to be at healthy levels of abundance particularly in the main fishing area of Magdalena Bay, Mexico. However, a formal published population assessment is lacking.

In Magdalena Bay, they are collected by hand by commercial divers, causing no damage to the seafloor and little to no bycatch.

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Fish Key:

Species has a combination of problems such as overfishing, high bycatch, and poor management.

Some problems exist with this species' status or catch methods, or information is insufficient for evaluating.

Species is relatively abundant, and fishing methods cause little damage to habitat and other wildlife.

A fishery targeting this species has been certified as sustainable and well managed to the Marine Stewardship Council's environmental standard. Learn more at http://www.msc.org.

These fish contain levels of mercury or PCBs that may pose a health risk to adults and children. Our source of information is http://seafood.edf.org/. We also recommend that you check local advisories.